We don't really say "it's nothing" often in the US but it isn't completely alien either. As far as people saying "no problem" I think as a culture we've accepted it as "de rien" even though it sounds even less formal than that.

I'm 30, but I distinctly remember being under 12 years old, and when people would thank me, I would usually say "no problem", instead of you're welcome. I remember it was instinctive and I would always think to myself "that may have sounded rude, why didn't you say 'you're welcome'?" But it's something I've done my whole life, and I really have no clue how it started.

ikanreed:"'No problem' communicates there was a problem but 'you're welcome' in no way implies its opposite by being said"--old idiot, so afraid of change that replacing a no-meaning conversation filling phrase with another no-meaning conversation-filling phrase is the biggest deal

When people say "no problem" they aren't aware that this old man is a problem.

Hate it when servers call everyone at my table "You guys" when we're all female. Why is this okay?

exick:When did everyone born after 1980 decide that "No problem" was interchangeable with "You're welcome"? Who spread that virus? The Taliban?

Listen, today's young people: If you want to infuriate someone born before 1980, just keep telling him "No problem" when they ask you to do something that is most certainly NOT a problem.

I don't understand how these two things are related. The first is a different response to being thanked, the second is affirmation that you understand the instruction and are willing to do as asked. I find it hard to believe that an author would be so enraged by colloquial English niceties that may have drifted past their origins and are no longer meant literally. Does this person expect to be peppered with an inventory of things that exist over the head of the person that he may say "What's up?" to? Of course not, because who walks around with pepper in their pockets all the time?

I think his issue maybe with the the subtle agency implied by the answer. "Ok" is simple acquiescence, "Yes sir" is deferential, but "No problem" implies that the person answering has thought about it and decided they were willing to do what you've asked them. Implicit in "no problem" is the chance they may find your demands to be a problem and not do them, and I guess this guy is one of those petty tyrants who finds the idea that those working for him might be making their own decisions independent of his will threatening. It's like people who get offended when someone uses "man" or "pal" instead of "sir" because they imply a position of equality.

unyon:Aarontology: SOMEONE IS BEING POLITE IN A WAY DIFFERENT THAN HOW I EXPRESS POLITENESS.

The question is whether its polite at all. I don't think 'uh huh' is a reasonable substitute for "you're welcome" either.

/Canadian//we're funny like that

And I would sometimes say that too "uh huh" or a "yep", instead of a you're welcome. Not sure why I would say that as a child with no preconditioning, but it would come out. I was just as sincere in my expression as if I were to have said "you're welcome", but it obviously doesn't come across as me being just as polite.

When playing Baldur's Gate, I chose the male voice set who occasionally complied with commands by stating "Not a problem"; I developed the habit of using the same phrase myself. Perhaps I was unaware of the inherent rudeness of the phrase due to having it applied to a Paladin.

mama2tnt:ikanreed: "'No problem' communicates there was a problem but 'you're welcome' in no way implies its opposite by being said"--old idiot, so afraid of change that replacing a no-meaning conversation filling phrase with another no-meaning conversation-filling phrase is the biggest deal

When people say "no problem" they aren't aware that this old man is a problem.

Hate it when servers call everyone at my table "You guys" when we're all female. Why is this okay?

That doesn't stop people from complaining about "doing the needful". I mean I get the complaints when it's used to inject ambiguity and reflect laziness on the part of the asker like "please advise" does, but it's still a retarded thing people feel excessively strongly about.

UrukHaiGuyz:It creeps me the f*ck out that Chick-fil-A employees are required to say this.

It must have come about recently, for in my halcyon days as a high-school and college-aged youth working at a Chick-Fil-A, this never came up in the training and was never stressed by the managers or operator.

Rapmaster2000:If you want to get good tips or just generally not infuriate older people

That can be simplified: if you want to get good tips, do not wait on older people.

THIS.

"O, here is a nice shiny new quarter."Thanks. Your drink cost $3 and your meal was $15, thanks for the 1.3% tip gramps. You keep it, you might have to make a call using a 'phone booth' whatever the hell that is...

mama2tnt:ikanreed: "'No problem' communicates there was a problem but 'you're welcome' in no way implies its opposite by being said"--old idiot, so afraid of change that replacing a no-meaning conversation filling phrase with another no-meaning conversation-filling phrase is the biggest deal

When people say "no problem" they aren't aware that this old man is a problem.

Hate it when servers call everyone at my table "You guys" when we're all female. Why is this okay?

DirkNiggla:Rapmaster2000: If you want to get good tips or just generally not infuriate older people

That can be simplified: if you want to get good tips, do not wait on older people.

THIS.

"O, here is a nice shiny new quarter."Thanks. Your drink cost $3 and your meal was $15, thanks for the 1.3% tip gramps. You keep it, you might have to make a call using a 'phone booth' whatever the hell that is...

Your wages are a concern of you and your employer. Don't look to me to be a part of that.

mama2tnt:ikanreed: "'No problem' communicates there was a problem but 'you're welcome' in no way implies its opposite by being said"--old idiot, so afraid of change that replacing a no-meaning conversation filling phrase with another no-meaning conversation-filling phrase is the biggest deal

When people say "no problem" they aren't aware that this old man is a problem.

Hate it when servers call everyone at my table "You guys" when we're all female. Why is this okay?

Because not everyone is as dependent on gender validation as you.

"Acknowledge my gender, working class peon, for it is all that matters in social interactions. I am here to be called female, not receive food."

freeforever:"No problem" is just another way of saying "Glad to help; no sweat off my back." It shouldn't be offensive and is a kind reply if not as formal as "You're welcome." What grinds my gears is when someone replies "Yep." What does "Yep" mean?

"Yep" is just another way of saying "Glad to help; no sweat off my back." It shouldn't be offensive and is a kind reply if not as formal as "You're welcome."

NkThrasher:Everyone has their stupid grammar peeves. Not everyone writes inane articles about them. Most people just post them in threads about the inane articles.

"I'm going to school to get my degree!"

Really, *YOUR* degree? it's sitting there with your name on it right now? oh it won't be printed until a few days before you graduate? So you're really going to school to get *A* degree that you will have a claim for possession of after you have earned it?

Or even worse.

"I'm going to school to earn my degree!"

So you already have a degree that you somehow didn't earn but are now in the act of earning?

/hates marketing speak

I believe you're actually incorrect on this. A degree is a rank or a title. A Diploma is what you receive granting you use of the title.This is why a degree is "conferred upon" you. Your diploma attests this specifically to you. So earning "your" degree is correct.

In answer to your question, in case its not a troll, is that it is recognition that they just performed a service for you, even if you paid money for it. And that service was likely at a wage to them that was below its value to you.

/so good that I had to bite anyway.//splash splash splash

I still think that if someone does something for profit and I pay for it they should thank me. Is that all that old fashioned? That goes for the pretty young lady at Starbucks to my Cisco rep who just got a $235,000 PO from me.